Aoi Asahina x male aquaphobic s/o
(Maybe not in that exact order.)
Aoi met s/o at Hopeâs Peak Academy and became friends with him shortly thereafter.
Before long, Aoi began developing feelings for s/o, and with a little encouragement from her best friend Sakura, decided to confess to him.
âS/o, thereâs something I need to tell you. Weâve been friends for a while now and I kinda haveâŠfeelings for you.â
He looks at her in surprise and doesnât respond for a brief moment, causing Aoiâs ponytail to droop in sadness as she thinks he doesnât feel the same way.
However, to her surprise, s/o finally speaks up and tells her that he does return her feelings.
âReally s/o?! You do?!â
She asks him with a hopeful gleam in her eyes.
âYeah, I do. How could I not? Youâre fun, bubbly, always optimistic, and incredibly beautiful. The only reason I never told you how I felt was that I didnât want to jeopardize our friendship.â
Aoiâs ponytail springs up in happiness as she pulls s/o into a tight hug.
âIâm so happy right now! Iâm gonna be the best girlfriend youâve ever had s/o!â
S/o smiles and hugs her back, thus marking the beginning of their relationship.
Early on in the relationship, Aoi began to quickly notice something odd about s/o.
While they do a lot of things together like eating donuts, cuddling, watching movies, etc, s/o never goes swimming with her.
In fact, he always seems to get nervous whenever Aoi talks about swimming, so she decided to ask him about it.
To her shock, s/o tells her that he has a fear of being in water, much to his embarrassment.
âS/o, why didnât you tell me about this earlier.â
He looks at her and sighs.
âYouâre the Ultimate Swimming Pro babe, I thought if you knew that I had aquaphobia, youâd break up with me.â
S/o says to her in sadness before being embraced by his girlfriend.
âI would never break up with you over something like that sweetie, I love you. Everyone is afraid of something, and being afraid of water isnât something I would ever judge you for.â
âThank you babe, I love you too.â
He and his girlfriend share a brief kiss before he speaks up.
âIâm guessing that youâre probably wondering why is it that Iâm afraid of water huh?â
âUh-huh, but you donât have to tell me if you donât want to.â
âNo, Iâll tell you. When I was around seven years old, my parents took me to the local swimming pool one day. While they werenât looking, I decided to swim to the deep end of the pool for fun. As I did so, someone decided to jump off the diving board and landed right on top of me, sending me almost to the very bottom. I couldnât swim to the top fast enough and began to panic, but luckily a lifeguard came and saved me from drowning. I know that it might sound stupid, but ever since then, Iâve always been terrified of swimming.â
After he finishes, Aoi notices him shaking slightly and does her best to comfort him.
âThat doesnât sound stupid at all sweetheart, Iâm so sorry you had to go through that. No wonder you act so weird whenever I go to the pool.â
âI hate having this fear, but I donât know how to get over it. Even the sight of a swimming pool is enough to get my heart rate upâ
Aoi thinks for a minute before getting an idea.
âHow about you and I go swimming together? I want to help you s/o, and I promise I wonât push you to do anything you arenât comfortable doing.â
He is hesitant at first, but ultimately agrees with his girlfriendâs suggestion.
With a lot of time, patience, and taking baby steps, Aoi eventually gets her boyfriend to slowly overcome his fear.
âOk s/o, do you want to try heading to the deep end now?â
He looks at the deep side of the pool as his body begins to shake a little out of fear and nervousness.
âIâŠ.I donât know if I can. My heart feels like itâs going to burst out of my chest.â
âCalm down s/o, I wonât force you to do this. If you decide to, Iâll gladly hold your hand as you swim over ok?
S/o takes a deep breath and takes his girlfriendâs hand.
âL-letâs do this. J-just donât let go ok?â
Aoi smiles and kisses his cheek.
âI promise you I wonât.â
S/o begins moving slowly before he gets to the point that his feet no longer touch the bottom of the pool.
âW-whereâs the floor?! Aoi I canât feel the bottom anymore!â
He begins panicking as he grips her hand tighter.
âS/o itâs ok, Iâve got you.â
She tells him gently as he continues onward.
As he gets to the beginning of the deep end, s/oâs nerves get the better of him as he lets go of Aoiâs hand and quickly swims back to the shallow end in full blown panic.
âI canât do it! Iâm sorry babe, Iâm sorry!â
He begins to break down as Aoi swiftly swims over to s/o and lovingly embraces him.
âDonât be sorry s/o, you did really well. We can continue to work on this if you want.â
She rubs his back as he wipes away his tears and looks at her.
âW-what if I can never get over this stupid fear?â
He asks with a shaky voice on the verge of breaking down again.
âThen thatâs ok. I love you so much s/o, and seeing you having panic attacks like the one you had a moment ago hurts to watch. If we canât ever go swimming together, thatâs fine with me, we can still do other things. You are the most important thing to me sweetheart, regardless of your fear.â
Aoi responds with a calm and soothing tone like a mother would use to put her child at ease.
S/o finally manages to calm down as he gives his girlfriend a warm and thankful smile.
âYou are the most amazing woman in the world Aoi, I hope you know that. I feel like Iâm the luckiest guy on the planet to be with someone like you.â
She chuckles and blushes before helping her boyfriend out of the pool.
âThatâs incredible sweet of you to say, but I think Iâm the lucky one here s/o. Now letâs get dried off and go change so we can head to our favorite shop to get some donuts! My treat sweetheart.â
He smiles as they both grab their set of dry clothes and head to their respective changing rooms.
Despite her boyfriendâs fear of water that may never fully go away, Aoi loves s/o with all her heart, and nothing is gonna change that.